Many rewarding careers have been launched through a paid internship at Frontiers.  As one of the leading open-access publishers that is constantly developing innovations to enable knowledge to flow freely, we give early career academics the opportunity to branch out from research into research communication.

“Doing an internship at Frontiers has been one of the best decisions I have made in my short career. I have had many internships but I was still unsure what career I would pursue. After 2 months at Frontiers not only did I know that I wanted a career in publishing, I also realized that I was good at it and enjoyed it,” said one intern who is now a fulltime member of the Frontiers editorial team.

The best way to learn about an organization is to be immersed in it: interns are immediately considered part of our team and the work they do matters.  “I was surrounded by supportive colleagues, challenged to think differently and given the opportunity to actively help shape the future of publishing. I’m not sure I would have had the same opportunities elsewhere,” said an intern.

Depending on their interest and expertise, Frontiers interns have the chance to work with the editorial team on quality control or journal development, the production team on production aspects of publishing articles, and many other areas within the company, such as R&D, data analysis, software engineering and science communication. Many get a chance to connect with top-level researchers on editorial projects and make a real difference by helping to get research out to the world. They have the opportunity to be trained in a new career and gain real-world experience working in an international team.

“As part of my internship and now as a full time employee, I was encouraged to take advantage of career development opportunities. Specifically this included a personal project, something offered to every intern, which allows interns to try different aspects of publishing. For example, this might include collaborating with the production or communications team, or performing your own data analysis for the company,” said a former intern.

More than 50% of Frontiers interns do become full time employees at the end of their 6 month term, and with offices now in Lausanne, London, Madrid and three cities in the United States, opportunities for full time employment are continuing to grow. Many other interns have been able to use Frontiers as a stepping stone to rewarding careers at other publishers, including The Royal Society and Springer Nature. Seeing our interns succeed is something we are proud of as an organization – in fact, because we always waived our non-compete clause whenever someone found a new position within the publishing industry, it was officially removed from our contracts in 2015, supporting a seamless transition from Frontiers to any other publisher.

Frontiers interns get dedicated training in small groups and learn the skills needed to excel in the academic publishing industry with young, vibrant people who share a vision to unlock science communication. It’s also a chance to work in a truly international environment with teammates from 40 countries who came from companies including World Economic Forum, World Health Organization, eBay, Thomson, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Siemens, as well as publishing houses including, Springer Nature, Cambridge University Press, Royal Society of Chemistry, Elsevier and Wiley. In addition, the Frontiers Paid Internship monthly salary is in line with the Swiss standard for internships and higher than major institutions in the area. Frontiers also helps newly arrived interns to find a home in the area.

And of course you can’t forget the perks. We have an open kitchen with healthy food and snacks, happy hours, BBQs, parties and team organised hiking tours, skiing, bowling and other activities that give newcomers plenty of opportunity to easily integrate and get to know your colleagues.

“My internship at Frontiers gave me insight not just into the world of academic publishing, but also into the workplace in general outside of academia. It has been fascinating to learn about the triumphs and challenges that a young and innovative company such as Frontiers can face. It was equally an excellent opportunity to test the waters of the professional world, acting as a valuable stepping stone – something than many interns whether they stay or go appreciate, as many are fresh out of academia,” a Frontiers intern said.

Interest in becoming a Frontiers intern? Visit http://www.frontiersin.org/Careers